Images(4)

Teapot

Dateca. 1770

Artist/Maker Cockpit Hill

OriginEngland, Derbyshire, Derby

MediumLead-glazed earthenware (creamware / cream-colored earthenware) with black transfer printing and red, green, and black enameling

DimensionsOH: 5 1/8"; OL (including spout and handle): 7 1/2".

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Handley

Object number1997-22,A&B

DescriptionSpherical creamware teapot with flat, recessed base and short vertical neck. A narrow band of beading encircles the teapot's shoulder. The S-shaped spout has acanthus foliage at its juncture to the body; the internal piercing at the base of the spout is arranged in the shape of a heart. The handle consists of two entwined straps with molded foliate junctures at the body. The low, domed lid has a narrow band of beading encircling its rim; the finial is modeled as a flower blossom with a foliate juncture. Each side of the teapot's body is embellished with an identical black transfer print of a cartouche surmounted by a winged cherub's head. Beneath the cherub are lines suggesting sunbeams and the misinterpreted Hebrew letters for the Hebrew name for God. The remainder of the cartouche depicts an interior with flooring tiles and eight columns in the background. In the central foreground are a globe, surveying, navigational, architectural, and Masonic tools, large books, a clock, and a weathervane. To the left of this assemblage is a small standing figure of a man holding a liberty pole, and to the right is a small seated figure of a man holding a flag with an indecipherable motif. The teapot lid is embellished with three separate black transfer prints of a bird and foliage, a hound and foliate, and a hare and foliate scroll. The scroll beneath the hare bears the very faint legend "T. Radford (illegible)". The floral finial and foliate juncture are embellished with red, green, and black enamel.
Label TextThe transfer print on the lid of this teapot bears the name, T Radford. Thomas Radford was an engraver whose name appears on other Cockpit Hill teapots of slightly earlier date.
Inscribed"T. Radford" printed on the lid in a cartouche
ProvenanceEx collection: Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Handley
Formerly with Garry Atkins, London, England
Ex. collection: Donald Towner, England